School Days

Hi everyone!

Thought I'd write a little something about the kids today. They aren't here right now. They're actually in school! Grace and Andrew started Junior Kindergarten last week. They like it! Grace already knew one of her classmates since last year, Janessa, and Andrew is slowly meeting more kids. He is shy and came home the first day thinking that he didn't have to go back until next week. I woke him up early the next morning and said "time for school". He answered saying, "But I already went to school yesterday!" Getting up early everyday is new for them. They are too small for their backpacks. Here is a photo of them on the first day of school.

Since I don't have a photo of Faye's first day..I was on the other side of the school with the twins..I will show a photo of Faye riding her cousin Abi's Bike in Utah. It was one of the new things she learned this summer. She loves riding her bike. And eating salads.

Sonia

Sorry its been a while since my last entry. I have been really busy AND out of town. In fact I've been busy while out of town. The three munchkins and I went to visit family in Utah this past week. I always try to make it out to visit my sister and brother in-law in Salt Lake City. This time we arranged our visit around the Soldier Hollow Sheep Dog Championship, which in hindsite wasn't the best timing because school started for my nieces and nephews the week before and we missed our open house where we were supposed to meet our new teachers, classrooms and picture day. We managed though, through the chaos and had a FABULOUS time.

Not only were we able to see Tiffiny, Lee and their adorable brood, we spent some quality time with Darren, Lisa and Elizabeth up in Cache Valley. It was absolutely a treat to visit at this time. The kids and I enjoyed the harvesting of the crops, hay and corn, to be more specific, and also to move pipe (not manually, thank goodness!) and to see some spectacular views from Willow Flats. Late at night the grown-ups stayed up talking about Preston, growing up and I learned some invaluable information about Devon. Darren is a wealth of knowledge concerning his older and sometimes stubborn brother. So far I haven't had to use it against him! Also, we talked about Darren and Lisa: "the early days"-they are so sweet together. We had a hard time getting to sleep, we had so much fun.

Also, we visited with our favorite aunt Linda who is talented beyond words with photography and an enthusiastic attitude despite her recent surgeries. She will be celebrating her birthday coming up soon so our thoughts are with her. I hope you have a blast this year, Aunt Linda. We LOVE you! Her daughter Lisa, her husband Gene and their baby Coleton was there too. It was great to hear about her fabulous life as an optometrist and mommy in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Check out her website at: http://www.eyecareidaho.com/ She is totally cool and beautiful, isn't she?
Grandma Cole was close by at the Franklin County Nursing Home, so we stopped by. She was having a good day, because we sat and talked with her briefly. Briefly because I had three squirmy children who wouldn't sit still or stop fighting with each other. She was grateful we came by, but next time I would prefer to leave the little "darlings" at home. All she could do was laugh at the screaming kids and assured me that she understood. After all she is a mother of nine children herself. We gave and recieved lots of hugs and kisses (my favorite) and said goodbye. She is a tremendous woman.
Logan was a special treat because we got to spend the afternoon with Great grandma LuJean. "Great" because she happens to be Devon's grandmother, but especially because the kids had a BLAST at her apartment in Logan. They got to play with her toys, which were sprayed all over her living room floor. By lunch time the room was a disaster. Then we ate pizza, had delicious jello with fruit in it and whipped cream and also cookies! The kids were in heaven. Children can only last for so long on good behaviour, so by the end when we were taking them around to visit Grandma's friends, they started making rude statements like, "you're old" and "your skin is full of wrinkles" and I as horrified as I can be, kept apologizing for them. Then the girls started wandering into her friend's bedroom closets and touching precious and delicate items. I was ready to pinch them for their cheekiness. Luckily Grandma's friends were understanding. I got the girls out of there quickly though. All in all, it was a fun time and grandma LuJean was able to show off her great-grandkids to her friends. Lizzie was there of course and was such a good baby. Lisa was busy though, making sure Lizzie didn't swallow one of a thousand small toys left around by my kids. She probably didn't have much fun there. But I loved that she was there. She was the understanding and calm one. I appreciated it. Grandma LuJean loved it too.
The last thing I'll mention about the visit to Grandma LuJean's is the fun we had playing dominoes. Andrew won both times and is now one of my kids favorite games to play.
Then we got back to Salt Lake City and our events were a blurr as the time went by so quickly. Some time in there we ended up going to liberty Park, visited our dearest friends and neighbors Teresa and Aaron Millet and their little munchkins, and went to a car show where I found my favorite car in the whole world. It is a convertible belvidere, 1951 I think. It looks like a total chick car, ready for a drive to the coast don't you think?

We also spend a couple of hours heading up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Donut Falls. It was amazing in the summer as it was in the winter. Only thing is you can't reach the top in the summer as you can in winter. Tiffiny says that in the Spring the waters are much higher and keeps you from reaching even the place we stopped at. I must come and visit in the Spring some time. I bet its amazing to see a raging rivir instead of the summer spring that we experienced.
Also it is worth mentioning that I was delighted to meet and visit with my other sister-in-laws while in SLC. Tammy who has moved up to Layton, UT from St. George with her husband and baby was able to come down to SLC with her daughter Francesca. I like to call her Franca like my mother's aunt, but Tammy prefers to call her Franny. Either way, she is a cutie whatever you call her and she loves animals and exploring and I can tell she will be a smart kid when she grows up. Perhaps an adventuresome grown-up like her mom and dad. Who knows?

Tina had a birthday on the 30th and we got to spend time with her too. I met with her kids and it was nice seeing them all, except of course for Kyril, who wouldn't even say hi to me or look me in the eye around his friends. This is because apparently he is now a "teenager" and too cool to say hi to his aunt and cousins. Of course I was hurt, but I will get over it. I hope he gets over his attitude too. To Kyril, I am your aunt and I love you. I missed seeing you too. Next time I see you, I will expect a hi and a smile. If not I will publicly hug and kiss you, and call you my sweet bubba-kins. Even if its in front of your "cool" friends. Beware!

Anyways, I did have a good time in Salt Lake Valley.
Things I will miss most: Nightly walks with amazing views into the valley. Joking with Lee and Tina. Seeing my family whenever I want. Seeing the temple at night. Walking my niece and nephew to school. Cleaning Lee and Tiffiny's house. Seeing the kids play on the trampoline. The mountains. Cache Valley. My old neigbors. McKenze. Franca. Utah.

Until next time,

Sonia XXOO

Boy Scout Camp

Devon pulled two trailers on the trail





Hi Everybody!


My mother-in-law had written in an email that she had wanted to see pictures of Devon's 175-mile bike hike with the scouts this past June. I thought that I would display them here in my blog. He and the boys spent five days riding bikes to camps and doing service. They saw wildlife, visited cool places and worked really hard. Harder than they had ever worked before, or so they've said in their retelling of their summer camp adventure. Our family, including Devon's sister Tiffiny joined them for the last 30 miles back home. It was a hot day, but having good company was a plus.






Love, Sonia XXOO

Rainy Day Dancing

This morning the kids and I woke up to drizzle and drear. So we decided to smoke our eyes and take fashion photos and dance ourselves into a frenzy. It was a blast. Andrew made himself useful by pouring cereal into a bowl and onto the table, chair and floor. While that wasn't really fun, dancing to Hilary Duff and Hannah Montana was. Faye is enamoured with Hilary Duff's song, "Stranger" and wishes to dance and dress like Hilary in her music video. I think she likes the fact that the song has a good beat and she looks like a gypsy with all the jewels on her face and flowing outfit. Faye has asked me to sew her a costume like Hilary's. I consented as long as she realized I must modify it a bit to be modest. Luckily she's fine with that!

Well, I would add Faye's music video, but I don't know how to yet. So for now you'll just have to view the girl's fashion photos. Hope you like them. They had fun with hair and make-up. They're both natural posers.



Sonia XXOO

Country Road in Front of me

Last week, late in the night our road was paved over with tar and then pelted with gravel. Now I'm not sure why they did such a thing-perhaps they were trying to save money, or they wanted to fix the road quickly-I don't know why. All I know is that for a week now during the peak hours of traffic (we happen to live on a very busy street across from Freodert (Fray-dirt) Hospital) we get this dust cloud that hides our views and covers our car, home and lungs with a dirty, gritty residue. And when it gets too hot, and the gravel is all driven off the road, the tar splashes onto our cars and smells like hot burning rubber. It is worse than construction. You know why? Because at least there's some hope of the project finishing (except for maybe NYC and Boston). But for us? I think this is going to stay!

All I can say is LuAnn...I understand exactly how you feel now. (You'll know what I mean)

I never thought I'd be looking at a country road in the middle of a city.

Sonia XXOO